Mysuru: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Bengaluru, had organised a consumer outreach programme at the Maharaja’s College Centenary Hall here recently regarding the rights and duties as subscribers of cellphone, landphone, cable TV and others.

TRAI Advisor Shreenivas S. Galgali, speaking on the occasion, said that in every district there were a lot of complaints from the consumers. Every company must hold monthly meetings with the subscribers, receive the complaints and forward them to TRAI. Only then can problems be solved.

Value Added Service (VAS): In the interest of the mobile phone customers, TRAI has launched three new applications and web portals as VAS, said Galgali.

Hundreds of college students and senior citizens shared the problems they were facing regarding mobile phone services.  Senior Citizens Forum’s Keshav advised that when TRAI brings any new service they should keep the senior citizens in mind.

If the customers are unhappy with the redressal of complaints then they can approach the appellate authority. The details of the authority are available with the Smart App Kit, service provider website and in shops, Galgali said. To prevent telemarketing / commercial calls and messages, the customers can register their complaints with the toll-free number 1909 or send a SMS. Even three days later if the complaint is not resolved, then once again call the same number or message to the service provider, he said.

Mobile tower radiation: Galgali also addressed concerns over electromagnetic radiation emanating from cellular mobile towers posing health risk and said that scientific research in the area has been going on, but it has not yet been proved that the radiation from the towers affect health.

However, he pointed out that details of electromagnetic radiation from each of the cellular mobile towers across the country had been uploaded by the respective service provider on Tarang Sanchar, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) portal, for sharing information on mobile towers and EMF (Electro-Magnetic Field) compliance.

Linking Aadhaar and mobile numbers: The process of linking Aadhaar numbers with mobile phone numbers had been put on hold following a stay by the Supreme Court,said Galgali.

However, the mobile phone subscriber were asked to link their Aadhaar numbers with mobile numbers following a SC direction at the behest of DoT and other law enforcement agencies to see that mobile phone numbers are not misused, he said.

Telecom tower fraud: He also cautioned people about ‘telecom tower fraud.’ If fraudsters approach property owners claiming to be representatives from TRAI, or they claim to represent a telephone company, the property owners must check with the company directly first, he stressed.